Pet friendly cottages are becoming more and more widely available as the effects of the current economic climate continue to show themselves.
For a start, fewer people are able to afford to travel to far-flung destinations for their holidays and are more interested in staying closer to home. They also do not like the idea of their pet staying home alone (with a neighbour watching out for them and visiting them to feed them), but cannot afford to pay for kennel holiday accommodation.
Meanwhile, people who own cottages to rent out for holidays have found that they are struggling financially and need to make themselves more attractive to potential customers. They have soon realised that the cottages that are available to rent that are described as ‘pet friendly cottages’ or just ‘dog friendly cottages’ are getting more and more trade.
There are dedicated websites that give details of pet friendly cottages to rent, and these offer an additional advertising opportunity for the owners of those cottages. The cottages that are located in picturesque parts of the country are ideal for taking pets, especially dogs: refusing to allow pets to stay will mean that customers will go elsewhere.
Those same websites also allow previous guests to review their stays at the various pet friendly cottages advertised, so cottage owners have wised up to the fact that they need to make their cottage genuinely ‘pet friendly’ rather than simply tolerate people bringing their pets and imposing lots of unreasonable rules. They will usually charge an extra fee for taking a pet, but that is to cover the cost of any extra cleaning required, and actually lets you feel more at ease about your pet staying there with you (you know that some mess is expected and has been accounted for – though of course, you must not take liberties!).
Taking your pet on holiday is far preferable to leaving them in boarding accommodation, where they may be stressed at being away from their family; it is certainly far better than leaving your pet at home alone. Animal charities such as the RSPCA receive plenty of calls each year from neighbours worried about pets that have been left at home whilst their owners have gone away.
So start looking for your ideal pet friendly holiday cottage today and see where you can go with the whole family and/or friends at any time of the year!
Attached Images:
- License: Royalty Free or iStock source: http://morguefile.com/archive/display/39465
This is a guest post by Claire Chat a new Londoner, travel passionate and animal lover. She blogs about Pets and Travelling in Europe. If you want Claire to write you specific content, you can find email her here or contact her on Twitter (Claire_Chat).